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metabagellast Thursday at 4:36 PM1 replyview on HN

> Usually I'm not a big fan of legislation

Corporations need to be heavily regulated. They won't just do the right thing for its own sake.

https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Corporation/Joel-...


Replies

crazygringoyesterday at 1:36 AM

I mean obviously that's what things like environmental and safety regulations are for, as well as things like antitrust. You have to set the "rules of the game."

I just mean that otherwise, usually competition ensures good outcomes for consumers, because the corporations that produce bad outcomes go out of business once consumers catch on.

But there are definitely exceptions, especially around rare events that are difficult to foresee or that can't reasonably be expected to be part of product comparison. The likelihood of your account being shut down without recourse and losing things you've paid for falls into that category perfectly. Predatory surprise fees with things like credit cards and bank accounts, and that change without warning, also fall into that. Also minimum warranties, since consumers can't easily inspect quality on the inside of a product.